Your Tarot card deck is something you cherish. It is precious. And for you, it means the world. Whether you are a reader with one or two Tarot card decks, or whether you are a collector of Tarot decks, storing these decks and caring for your cards is something that occupies every Tarot reader’s mind.
So what is the best way to store a Tarot card deck? And how does one care for the 78 best buddies of your life? Lets have a look.
Your Tarot card deck is made out of paper (ok, thick paper but not exactly cardboard thick) and often covered by a thin sheen of plastic (this can be optional for some decks). You use it all the time to do your readings. You shuffle them, you mix them up, and if you read for other people, you have those other people handling your cards as well.
Other people’s energy apart, your cards can get dirty with wear and tear. And since you are so bonded with these cards, taking good care of them is of the essence.
Caring For Your Tarot Card Deck
Caring for your Tarot cards involves making sure that the inevitable wear and tear is controlled, and reduced by a large scale. There are several things you can do to make this happen.
Spread Cloth
Using a cloth on which you do your readings is the best way to reduce a lot of wear and tear on your deck. Surfaces of tables, mats and the like are often quite rough on the cards. Especially when you use those surfaces for giving your cards a good mix.
I know I got the pictures on my first deck all faded out – I used to sit down on a mat to do my readings and didn’t use a spread cloth back then. Within a year, the images on the cards had faded out. Perplexed, I ended up buying a new deck of cards. On a whim (a.k.a. an inspired intuitive moment) I took a piece of cloth that had been lying around in my mum’s closet for a time and put that on top of the mat, and started using it as a spread cloth. The new deck still has the images fresh and clean – and its been at least four years plus!
You can choose any kind of cloth (although many people recommend silk). However, any material that you like works. I have been using a cloth made out of plain cotton – and it works like a charm. Again, may people recommend a black colored cloth – but you can get any color / design that you really like. Just make sure the design isn’t so busy or distracting that it interferes with your reading.
Charging Your Tarot Cards
Charging your Tarot cards is a really great way to keep the energy of the cards positive and upbeat.
Again, there are many ways that you can charge your cards. Read more about these ways in my earlier article about Charging your Tarot card deck.
Charging your Tarot cards makes sure that your cards aren’t heavy with the energies of the previous readings and that they give you the best results in terms of quality of readings.
Storing Your Tarot Cards
Storing the cards is one big question for most people. While the cards come packaged in a nice little cardboard box, that box often doesn’t last long. Most of these boxes are made so that the cards just about fit into them (I guess it is a packaging thing). But that makes using these boxes a bit of a problem. The more you get your cards in and out of these boxes, they are bound to wear out. So what is the best way to store your Tarot cards?
Tarot Card Bags
There are a number of Tarot bags available in the market today. These drawstring pouches are really amazing – and some of them have such amazing designs on them too! Again, they are made out of a variety of materials ranging from your basic cotton cloth to velvet.
You can also get these bags in a number of sizes as well – which works really well for some oversized decks.
My suggestion: go with what feels right for you – be it in terms of design or cloth quality and style.
With the cards, the best way to go is to follow your feelings and intuitions. As I keep saying, the cards are your mirror – and if something feels ‘right’ and ‘comfortable’ for you, then your cards are going to be very happy in their new home!
Tarot Card Boxes
Just like the bags, there are a number of boxes out there in which you can store your Tarot cards. And they are made out of a variety of materials like wood or metal. They may be plain or have a lot of interesting designs on them as well.
Again, go with your gut, your intuition – and you’ll never go wrong with your choice of box for your Tarot cards.
The Original Packaging
I know this sounds a bit too weird (especially when I lambasted those boxes a few paragraphs earlier), but hear me out. J There are many of us who end up collecting Tarot decks. And we don’t use these decks very often – perhaps, we open the packs once or twice a year.
I know I have many decks, but when I do a reading for my clients, I end up using my trusty ‘ole Universal Waite deck. And then for the inspired moments when I use more than one deck for the reading, I end up using my Osho Zen deck, or my Druidcraft Deck, and now my New Vision Deck. But see, that’s about it. I rarely use many of my other decks – unless I have an inspired moment when I just want to read with a particular deck. As these decks don’t get used all that much, keeping them in their original packaging makes a lot of sense.
So here’s my suggestion – you can use bags or boxes to store your regularly used decks, and use the original packaging to store the decks which grace your collection.
Either way, keeping your decks safe and nice is what you are aiming for.
Other Considerations While Storing Your Tarot Cards
There are also several other things that you need to consider for when you are storing your cards.
Places
Where are you going to keep your cards? Again, remember these are made out of paper. So it is important to keep your cards in a place that is clean and dry. Somewhere where there isn’t the likelihood of liquid stuff (water etc.) to get into them. If you have a sacred space like an altar, and if you are comfortable with the idea of having your cards in this space, you can also consider keeping your cards in this area.
People
Do you have pets? Little kids that are likely to tear stuff and throw stuff around? Well, then it is best to keep your cards in a place where pets and kids don’t get into them. Seriously. I don’t hate these cute, cuddly creatures. But they can be quite destructive – unintentionally, of course. So it’s best not to put your stuff where it can be easily accessible to them.
Things
Many people prefer to put in a piece of crystal or a twig of herbs along with the deck. Gemstones and herbs have great healing powers – and storing them along with your deck is a great way to maintain a high energy level of your cards.
You can choose from a variety of gemstones and herbs depending on the healing properties you wish to have around your cards.
Your Turn
So what are your best ways of storing your Tarot card decks? What special care do you take while keeping your deck? Do you prefer one way to the other? What are your experiences with regards to storing your Tarot card deck?
Do let me know your thoughts and ideas and lets get talking in the comments below.
I am new to The Tarot scene and thought I would start with “Tarot For Your Self” a book by Mary K.Greer. I am not far along in the book because I have always felt “sensitive” and want to take it very seriously. One of the first exercises is to enter each of the major arcana cards. I had wrapped the cards in this beautiful purple silk but felt literally ill when I used them. Every time I would “enter” a card I would always receive gifts in leather, be it a book or pouches. So I took this as the cards telling me what they wanted. I found a nice piece of soft leather and am currently making a pouch/book type holder. Haven’t felt the illness since.
Wow! This must’ve been intense!
I’m so glad that you followed your intuition and listened to your inner guides. That is so important.
Thanks so much for sharing. ?
I’m a big fan of the Midori Travelers Notebook type journal myself. If you’re interested, you can find some really cute and colorful ones on Etsy, or if you are a DIY person, there’s a bunch of videos on You Tube too!
Good luck with your pouch! ?
Hi everyone,
I am not a reader but i am a long time collector and I have quite a lot of Tarot decks. I also am a leatherworker and I make Tarot bags for sale. I am not here to advertise my shop, I just want to say that genuine leather is a great “bag” material, too, just as silk is. I only use genuine leather and mostly vegetable tanned leather which means no chemicals were involved in tanning process but only plants (roots, bark, etc). And I think it is very much suitable “home” for a Tarot deck. And it protects paper cards very well. But I do know many people stand by silk pouches only. Of course it is up to everyone’s preferences.
Hi,
I visited your site, and the bags you make look pretty cool… So I am going to leave the link in your comment for others who may want to visit and see your stuff…
Now about your point — to be honest, I’ve almost always heard about using silk bags and scarves for holding the cards. Apparently, silk cleanses the energy of the cards better than most other materials. However, I have used all sorts of other cloth materials to store my decks and have never felt any difference. I guess, it is a matter of preference.
In the same way, I am sure leather stuff is loved and appreciated by many out there. And your Tarot bags will be too…
On a personal level, I am a vegetarian, and don’t prefer to use the stuff. But I am sure that there are others who don’t have issues like mine. As I said before, the bags and pouches that you make look cool…
Good luck!
~ M
Can you please give me link from where I can buy silk bag and tarrot box in India
Have you looked at amazon.in — they may have Tarot Deck bags.
I Crochet and I’m attempting to Crochet from scratch a purple drawstring bag with at least two compartments, one for my tarot deck and one for my oracle deck and then I hope to crochet little “pockets” for some crystals I bought so that they re always close to my cards 🙂
What a great idea! 🙂
I can’t wait to make my bag. I have some ideas that reuse material that means a great deal to me. Like my daughter’s old clothing that we both loved. Thank u for all the great ideas.
Wow Berta! It’s a grand idea! Thanks for sharing! If you want you can post the pics of your bag on the Tarot-ically-Speaking FaceBook Page! It would be lovely to see what you made! 🙂
I have 2 decks and made boxes for both of them with a simple plastic canvas and yarn that I made some simple pattern on one and then made a “frame” for the other one. It had a couple extra cards that had no purpose, so I just used that in the frame. This is a cheap and easy way to make custom boxes for your cards.
Wow! Steve that is so cool! Would you like to post the pics of your boxes on the Tarot-ically Speaking FaceBook page?
i for one have never stored a pack of tarot card but on the weekend a lady more or less exchanged me a set of cards, my heart is telling me to make my own storage for the card in a draw stirng bag that contains, the outside of purple silk and hemp cloth on the inside. i dont know why i feel this is the best way but something i do know is you want to make a positive feel to your cards, a silk outside with a natural inside lining that you have made your self is the key to understanding and keeping your cards safe.
That is so cool Christine!
Go with what feels natural to you… I am sure the cards will be happy in their new home! 🙂
Hi Madhavi- I put an album of my little boxes on my Facebook/photos page (your right-click here is disabled so I couldn’t copy/paste the link)and it’s set for public view so you can see them there. Thanks for your response- so many people put up pages and then ignore them that I admit I was surprised to hear from you. I’ve requested to join your FB group and look forward to sharing knowledge and ideas. Happy Reading!
Hey Clayton,
Thanks for joining my FaceBook group! I also went and saw the photos you’ve put up and I must say that the Tarot box is sooo amazing!
Keep up the good work! And yes, I look forward to interacting with you on FaceBook…
M
I found two unfinished wooden boxes at Michael’s- one holds the cards flat and the other is narrow so the cards slip in sideways from the top. I removed all the little brass hardware (keeping the sets carefully separated!) and sanded and painted them red, then lined them with sticky-back black felt. The flat box fits just a little tight (they dropped right in without the felt) but a strip of red ribbon around the cards easily pulls them out. I put the hardware back on and now have custom made boxes for both my decks. One is an original 1973 edition Tarot of the Witches that I bought as a teenager, and I still have the original cardboard box!
Wow! This sounds like a very interesting way to store your deck! If you can post the links to any pics of the boxes with the decks in ’em, it would be marvelous! 🙂
When storing your Decks in a “Taro Bag” the best way to show respect to not only your Deck but your Spirit Guides as well is to make the bag by hand. To protect your Deck Silk, a Gift of the Silk Worm, is the only known cloth that is produced from a true natural thread. As such it dose not have to be manipulated in so many ways to form cloth. Silk has a much higher protective/dampening capacity then any other material.
Hey Drucilla,
Yes, that is certainly an interesting way to look at it… 🙂